Describing a situation in English
English conversations 
When was the last time you had to describe a situation in English?
We often need to do this. For example, we might need to explain what is happening at home; or we may need to talk about a problem to a doctor; or we might have to tell a colleague about some recent changes at work.
In these video clips with conversations, you’ll learn lots of useful words and expressions for describing a situation in English.
By the way, conversations are a great way to learn a language. When people have conversations in English, they use really practical language. And all these words and expressions are useful for you too. So, by listening to conversations, you’ll learn how to speak English! For this fun activity, simply watch the conversation clips and answer the questions. Good luck!
Level: Pre-Intermediate to Upper-Intermediate (A2-B2)
Video activity
You’re going to watch some video clips from our fantastic online Complete English Course! Watch the video and try to answer the questions that appear at the start of each clip.
Here are the questions for you to answer. [answers below]
1 What’s wrong with the man?
2 How many houses does the woman show the couple?
3 What does the woman on the right have with her?
4 What did the woman on the left forget?
Watch & read!
After you’ve finished, watch the video and read the script at the same time. This is great for developing your listening skills as you can see the relationship between the spoken and written words.
Video script
Clip 1
Doctor: So, what seems to be the problem?
Man: Oh, I think I put on some weight [Hm]. I’ve been eating a lot, a lot of sugar.
Doctor: OK, what’s your typical, daily diet?
Man: Er, I normally have cereal with sugar for breakfast.
Doctor: You should probably have something like oats, or…
Clip 2
Realtor: So, based on what you’ve told me, these are the two houses that I’ve come up with, and obviously we can go and see them. But if you’d just like to go through the specs, erm, and see what you think.
Man: Alright, wow. This has a bigger garage. You know how much I want a man-cave in the garage.
Woman: I know, I know you want a man cave in the garage, but look at this…
Clip 3
Woman, right: This is the first time I’ve flown, I don’t really know what I’m doing [OK]. Can you help me? What do I need to do?
Woman, left: No worries. We’re here, OK? So, you’re just going to go into the airport, and you have your passport, right? [Yup.] And you have your bag? OK, so you’re just going to take those things to the baggage, to the check-in desk, and you’re going to give them your passport, and give them your bags, and then they’re gonna check it in, and then they are going to give you a boarding pass. OK?
Clip 4
Kate: It was so fun. I had such a good time, but I had the hugest fiasco though! [What?] I forgot my passport! [How?] Oh my gosh, this has never happened to me! I was staying in a hostel in Scotland, and it was the day that I was going from Scotland to London, and it must have fallen out of my bag. As I left, all of a sudden, I got a phone call from the hostel. They had my contact info [no way!] so, luckily, they called me, it was so lucky…
The Complete English Course
By the way, these clips come from of the Low-Level of The Complete English Course. Our 3-level online course will ensure you make real progress, improve all areas of English at the same time and increase your English level. Each level will improve your Speaking, Pronunciation, Listening, Reading, Vocabulary and Writing. For more information on this fantastic course and to try some sample lessons, please visit: https://learnhotenglish.com/product/complete-english-course/
Answers
1 What’s wrong with the man? He’s put on some weight because he’s been eating a lot of sugar.
2 How many houses does the woman show the couple? She shows them two houses.
3 What does the woman on the right have with her? She has her passport and her bag with her.
4 What did the woman on the left forget? She forgot her passport.
